Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1

15 Smith simply says Wakarimasu ka in order to find out if a coworker understands the report. He does not mention ‘you’ or ‘the report’, which are obvious from the context. A Japanese verb ends in -masu (Affirmative, Non-Past, Formal) and –masen (Negative, Non-Past, Formal) as well as other forms, which will be introduced later. Non-past refers to an act that is performed regularly or will be performed in the future. It does NOT refer to an act that is currently being performed. Formal refers to speaking courteously. This form is used typically when speaking to superiors, people you meet for the first time, or strangers. It is a safer form to use when learners first start speaking Japanese. 1-1-2 Hai and Iie : Affirming and Negating Hai means ‘what you said is right’ regardless of whether the sentence is affirmative or negative. Ee is a less formal than hai . Wakarimasu ka. Do you get [it]? - Hai, wakarimasu . Yes, I do. Wakarimasen ka . You don’t get [it]? - Ee, sumimasen . That’s right. I’m sorry. Iie means ‘what you said is incorrect’ regardless of whether the sentence is affirmative or negative. Iya is less formal than iie . Wakarimasu ka. Do you get [it]? - Iie, wakarimasen . No, I don’t. Wakarimasen ne . You don’t get [it], right? - Iya, wakarimasu yo . No, (that’s wrong) I do get it. 1-1-3 Sentence Particles Ka and Ne(e) Sentence particles such as ka and ne(e) attach to a sentence. Ka is a question marker. Tabemasu . I eat it. Tabemasu ka . Do you eat it? Ne(e) with falling intonation indicates that you assume the addressee shares your feelings. It helps create the culturally important impression that you and the addressee share the same feeling or opinion. When used with a question intonation, you are checking if your assumption is in fact correct. Yoku nomimasu nee. You drink a lot, don’t you! Wakarimasen nee. We don’t know, do we. Tabemasen ne? You don’t eat it, right?